Boats moored in the port of Kalabahi on Kalabahi Bay, Alor

Photo: Mujiono Leo, cropped, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mucky Mosque

Kalabahi Bay, Alor, Indonesia

  • Beginner
  • No current
  • Best Mar to Dec

Mucky Mosque is a beginner dive site in Kalabahi Bay, Alor, Indonesia. Dives run from 2 to 27 m, with little or no current. The best months are March to December. Marine life here includes scorpionfish, frogfish and pipefish.

Updated

Conditions at Mucky Mosque

Max depth
20 m
Depth range
2–27 m
Current
None
Level
Beginner
Depth profile: dives from 2 m to 27 m.

Safety

Bottom
Village litter lies among the stones; hover and keep your hands to yourself.

About Mucky Mosque

Mucky Mosque is a black sand muck dive off a village beach on the north shore of Kalabahi Bay, Alor, named for the call to prayer heard from the surface. Rhinopias, frogfish, ghost pipefish, seahorses, mandarinfish and the wunderpus all turn up here.

Mucky Mosque lies off the beach of a village on the northern shore of Kalabahi Bay, Alor's long, sheltered bay. Divers named it after the call to prayer that carries over the water from the village mosque. Below is a steep slope of dark volcanic sand, rounded river stones and scattered corals running down to about 27 metres, with the litter you would expect off a village beach.

That untidy bottom is what the critters love. Guides find Rhinopias and leaf scorpionfish, frogfish including giant frogfish, ghost pipefish, seahorses, dragonets and mandarinfish, razorfish, harlequin shrimps and cephalopods such as the wunderpus, plus plenty of nudibranchs, crabs and shrimps. The bay is sheltered from the strait's currents, which makes it an easy dive, and it is one of the bay's best sites at night.

When to dive Mucky Mosque

Best months: March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

Season

Right now
Main season
March to December, when Alor's dive centres run their season.
Good to know
Kalabahi Bay is sheltered, so its muck sites can be dived when the strait is rough.

Marine life at Mucky Mosque

What divers report seeing here. Tap one to see where else it turns up.

Type of diving

Questions about Mucky Mosque

Why is it called Mucky Mosque?

The site lies off a village beach in Kalabahi Bay, and divers can hear the call to prayer from the village mosque when they surface.

What can you see at Mucky Mosque?

Rhinopias, leaf scorpionfish, frogfish, ghost pipefish, seahorses, mandarinfish and other dragonets, harlequin shrimps, razorfish and the wunderpus, along with many nudibranchs.

How deep is Mucky Mosque?

A slope of dark volcanic sand and river stones runs from the shallows down to about 27 metres.

Is Mucky Mosque good for beginners?

Yes. Kalabahi Bay is sheltered from the strait's currents. What helps most is steady buoyancy, so you can stay close to the sand without stirring it up.

Can you night dive at Mucky Mosque?

Yes. The muck sites on Kalabahi Bay's north shore are among Alor's best night dives.

Reviews

Be the first to review Mucky Mosque

Dived here? Tell other divers what it was like: the visibility, the current and what you saw.

See shops in Alor